Social Hallucinations

Unscrew America

No plans for the weekend? Get some work done and help to unscrew America. Great and funny website.

sustainability, ecology, unscrew America

Internet is Disconnected

When you think about is, it is true. Plenty of information that isn't connected and can't be connected in easy way. Mash-ups are not spread as we would believe. But we are on the way to become more connected by ubiquitous mashing-up. See yourself.

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

internet, mash up, Firefox

Say Something!

Facebooks seems to become increasingly spammed by companies who assume that people die to become their friends and use / install all the crap they produce. The worse some use Facebook as traditional media, they think the higher they will shout, the more people will hear. There are also others, that choose the way of silence. They don't think they should say/write anything. Silence. Just a link, not a word of explanation. New application from charity organization. That's interesting. Hmm, I wonder whether they thought I would click because I am curious.

Guess what, I clicked hopeing there will be some explanation. Nope. Just like that.

I wonder whether anyone producing this application and then seeding it on Facebook tought for a second - 'why would people on earth download my application?'
Over and over again, I get surprised by the lack of the insight and idea on what motivates people. People always do things driven by needs and motivated by the urge to satisfy those. So for the God's sake, think about it when you plan to communicate with people. Don't expect them to get involved because you want it. Get them involved by nurturing their motivations.

Amen

Unboxing Samsung

Samsung takes unboxing to the new level. It is pretty good, especially the opening finale.

via InfluxInsights

Samsung, unbox, video

Breaking the Rules

This is crazy video with crazy kitesurfing stunt. It made me think about the way we work avoiding to take risks and tend to stay on the safe side. But sometimes it is necessary to take the big jump to the other side, break the rules and routines. Try something new and feel the rush. Take a walk on the wild side.

creativity, kitesurfing

Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen and Watch Australia

It is good to hear some amazing advice for how to go through life.

Baz Lurhmann is fantastic. I must admit I am looking forward to his new film Australia. It will be for sure fantastic visual experience.

You can also get the taste of what to expect in the July Vogue issue where Annie Leibovitz traveled to the set of Baz Luhrmann's film, Australia, to photograph Nicole Kidman. Here is the video diary from the trip - you can hear the story and take a look at the stunning photographs.

photography, Baz Lurhmann, Australia the movie, Australia, Annie Leibovitz

Totally Hot

You may say what you want about Paris Hilton. She is blonde, she is stupid, she is hot. Whatever you say it is true because she made you to believe it is true. Like in Andersen's tale Emperor's New Clothes, in which emperor hires two swindlers to make for him the finest suit. They tell the emperor the cloth is invisible to anyone who was stupid. Of course no one can see the non-existent suit but no one dares to admit it in fear of being called stupid. We don't dare Paris is media genius in fear of being accused for stupidity. The truth is that she has figured out how to use the power of media to her advantage and how to stay in the center all the time by constant reinvention. This video is a good example that this girl knows what media attention is about. Totally hot response to McCain's totally misfired celebrity ad.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

obama, Paris Hilton, McCain

Age of Conversation 2

Age of Conversation is back. This time in black. Thanks to David Armano.

Watch out, book is coming anytime soon! 275 great stories by 275 great authors.

AOC, Age of Conversation

Planners vs. Creatives

Who make better planner? Planner or Creative? I'd say one can't exist without another. It seems rather silly to talk this distinction in times when all rants about collaboration. It seems like silo thinking, where we pout people in a small drawers and label them with business cards where title is written with golden letters. The truth is that we shouldn't think in terms of titles but in terms of skills people have: good people vs. bad people.

Follow debate with the fantastic post by Rory Sutherland

Photo by theparadigmshifter

advertising, communication, job

What Lies Behind Facebook Popularity?

There are 700.000 Facebook users in Denmark. That's pretty impressive if you take into consideration the fact that there are barely 5 million people in Denmark and that last July, there were only 9.000 users.

Such a rapid growth makes researches to wonder what drives Facebook popularity. While one group talk about socializing aspect, others seek answers in science. The latter one are two researches from IT University and Center for Design Research in Denmark developed model that explains Facebook popularity. Model focuses on understanding how we experience the websites and what are factors that attract people. It analyzes not only content, services and applications but the quality of design, layout and user-friendliness.

When applying model to Facebook, the researches have found out that the popularity of the site is largely due to Facebook's visual expresson - it is design and layout are very discreet in the form and colors, and it may be the adult generation like. It signals the seriousness and credibility, just like banking sites. Researches compared Facebook with Danish bank site Danske Bank.

At the same time the system is extremely easy to use - it is very intuitive, and it does not require a lot of experience to create a profile. Researchers believe those are the factors that made Facebook popular not only amongst the younger audiences but also attracted adults, who weren't familiar with social networks or never used them before.

Interesting point of view, proving that user driven design is very important and together with understanding the drivers and motivations that trigger human behavior are powerful tools in creating community.

Denmark, Facebook, research, community

Social Hallucinations Goes Mobile

Thanks to Neil I've found a smart service that allows you to create mobile site for your blog for free. It is called MoFuse.

I like applications that a so easy to set up.

Here is link to Social Hallucinations mobile site: http://socialhallucinations.mofuse.mobi/ . There is also a MoFuse badge in the sidebar.

mobile internet, MoFuse

What Monks Has to Do with IT Rage

Put together THIS ..

... with THIS

"Patience is one of the characteristics of monastic life, but even the patience of the brothers was being tested by our slow dial-up internet service," said Father Daniel, the Abbot of Caldey Abbey.

When it comes to IT and gadgets we are all equal and expect reliability and speed. :-)

via Charles Firth and PSFK

IT